KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College men's lacrosse team hosted the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buccaneers for the fifth matchup in the all-time series between the two teams, but for the first time, the Buccaneers came out on top as they defeated the Owls, 14-12 and sunk KSC to 1-1 in Little East Conference play.

Records

• Keene State: 4-5 (1-1 LEC)
• Massachusetts Maritime: 6-2 (2-0 LEC)

Postgame Interview (Coach Theriault)

How it Happened
Both teams started off the game by using a lot of the shot clock, but in the Owls' case they used too much of it, as in two of the Owls' three first possessions, the Owls turned the ball over due to a shot clock violation. MMA started off the game with a pair of goals to take a 2-0 lead with 4:58 remaining in the opening quarter. The Owls responded with Jack Ansart and Adam Scala accounting for a pair of goals to tie the game up at two before heading into the second quarter. Scala assisted Ansart on the first of the two goals, and shortly after, following Scala's shot being saved by the Buccaneer's goalkeeper, Eddie Keller, Ansart collected the ball and fired it into the back of the net to tie the game for the Owls.
 
MMA opened the second quarter, just as they did the first, as they scored a pair of goals in the opening 2:12 of the quarter to take another two-goal lead. But just like the Owls responded in the first quarter, they did so again with two more goals in the seconds. Jake Dubiel assisted Scala for a goal and Giacomo Tedone assisted Rex Maccarini on a man-up goal to tie the game up at four with 7:59 remaining in the opening half. Over the next 60 seconds MMA retook the lead with a goal but shortly after, KSC once again tied it up as Cole Ricardi scored his ninth goal of the season to tie it up at five apiece. KSC added three more goals in as many minutes to jump to an 8-5 lead late in the first half. Nick McNulty assisted Ricardi on a man-up goal for the first of the three, for his second goal in a row, while Tedone assisted Ansart, and Tim Souza scored the final of the three for KSC. MMA scored one more goal in the opening half as Joe Vricella scored a man-up goal with 1:33 remaining and KSC took an 8-6 lead into the second half.
 
KSC retook the three-goal lead 1:38 into the third quarter as McNulty added another assist, on Scala's second goal of the game. The Buccaneers were able to cut the Owls' lead to just one over the next three minutes with a pair of goals from Quinn Mucha, but once again, the Owls had a response as Maccarini assisted Ansart for his fourth goal of the game, with 8:48 remaining in the third. The rest of the quarter was all the Buccaneers, as this time, the Owls did not have a response to their three goals, and they were unable to capitalize on a minute penalty and MMA took a 11-10 lead into the final 15 minutes of regulation.
 
In the opening 1:48 of the final quarter, MMA once again added two more goals, making it five straight goals to jump to a 13-10 lead over the Owls. KSC looked to gain some momentum after Sean Bosworth scored his second goal of the season with 8:15 remaining in regulation, but Mucha scored his fourth goal of the game with 2:57 left on the clock to kill the Owls' momentum. Keene State once again pulled within a pair of goals as Souza scored again for KSC with 41 seconds remaining, but the Owls were unable to convert on their extra-man opportunity in the final minute and the Buccaneers held on for the 14-12 win over KSC.
 
Inside the Crease

• With the loss, KSC falls to 4-1 in the all-time series between the two teams. In the previous four contests, the Owls had outscored the Buccaneers 78-38.
• Ansart and Mucha tied for a game high of four goals, while Mucha also added an assist for a game high of five points.
• Ty Cougler once again led the Owls with three caused turnovers on defense for a game high.
• Keller made 13 saves while allowing 12 goals for MMA, while Dylan Florian made seven saves for KSC on the day.
• The Buccaneers had the edge on faceoffs on the day, as KSC went 13-for-30 (43.3%) on faceoffs, slightly bringing their season average up to 42.5% on faceoffs.
• The Buccaneers converted on their one man-up opportunity, while KSC went 2-for-4.
• improves to 1-0 in the first ever meeting between the two programs.

 
Up Next


Keene State has a week off before their next contest, as they return to action on Saturday, April 5, at 4:00 PM at the University of Southern Maine for their third LEC game of the year.
Massachusetts Maritime also has a week off before their next contest as they will next play on the road at the University of Massachusetts-Boston on Saturday, April 5, at 1:00 PM.